DISCLAIMER: Zak's Random News is very random and doesn't cover many things, and not everything may be accurate, because I'm just some guy. Go find a real news source.
Good morning. It’s December 9, 2024, and it’s a Monday. Still in the midst of my stressy/busy/insane time of year for work, and as I’ve said before, as long as I keep cranking out work, the lower my stress level stays. Kinda shitty to think of it that way, but I haven’t found a better way to deal with stuff than to work hard and get it done.
- Before I get to the news, a quick mention that this weekend was super productive in an entirely different way.
- Kat and I wrote and recorded background vocals on two songs for the upcoming They Stole My Crayon second album: “My Bubble” and “Fell From the Sky.”
- Both came out really great. So while I am definitely filled with Monday dread, it’s somewhat dampened by a good weekend of making music.
- Okay, some news.
- Yesterday, we mentioned that ousted Syrian leader Bashar Assad had fled the country to points unknown after a stunning rebel advance seized control of Damascus and ended his family’s 50 years of iron rule.
- Now we know where he went: Russia, of course.
- Assad fled to Moscow and received asylum from his longtime ally, Russian media said yesterday.
- Thousands of Syrians poured into streets echoing with celebratory gunfire and waved the revolutionary flag in scenes that recalled the early days of the Arab Spring uprising in 2011, before a brutal crackdown and the rise of an insurgency plunged the country into a nearly 14-year civil war.
- No one really knows what happens next.
- The leader of Syria’s biggest rebel faction, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, is probably going to be the guy in charge. He’s a former al-Qaida commander who cut ties with the group years ago and says he embraces pluralism and religious tolerance.
- But his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the U.N.
- What did the US do? What we usually do: carried out a major round of airstrikes on Islamic State targets yesterday.
- The operation included dozens of airstrikes on over 75 targets involving ISIS operatives and camps using B-52 bombers, F-15 fighter jets, and A-10 close-air support attack aircraft to ensure that ISIS does not seek to take advantage of the current situation to reconstitute in central Syria.
- Shrug.
- Moving on.
- A basic observation: Americans seem pretty pissed off about the state of our health care system, which is the reason for the lack of empathy regarding the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
- How do you think they’ll react if members of Dump’s incoming team take huge steps to further decrease the health care we get?
- Let’s face it: there is already a class war raging in the US, and the healthcare system is one of its most violent fronts.
- Any changes to the Affordable Care Act (like removing the clause regarding pre-existing conditions), lowering our Social Security or Medicare, or pulling back on health care for veterans, might result in similar anger toward Dump and his minions like Musk, Ramaswamy, Hegseth, and others who support such efforts.
- Guess we’ll see. Let’s move on.
- Today, the Environmental Protection Agency announced the ban of two known carcinogens used in a variety of consumer products and industrial settings. The new rules underscore President Joe Biden’s efforts to enact key protections against harmful chemicals before leaving office.
- The announcement includes the complete ban of trichloroethylene — also known as TCE — a substance found in common consumer and manufacturing products including degreasing agents, furniture care, and auto repair products.
- They also banned all consumer uses and many commercial uses of perc — also known as tetrachloroethylene and PCE — an industrial solvent long used in applications such as dry cleaning and auto repair.
- Good. We’re going to miss having a government who cares about the people more than they do about their personal wealth.
- In “Who Gives a Shit?” news, Dumpy announced yesterday that he is appointing Alina Habba, one of his defense attorneys in the New York hush money case, as counselor to the president.
- Habba, 40, has been spending lots of time with Dumples before and after the election at his Florida club Mar-a-Lago.
- Gross.
- As if you need this reminder, Dump became the first former American president to be convicted of felony crimes when a New York jury in May found him guilty of all 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex.
- As I said up top, no one seems to care about any of this.
- Let’s move on.
- 2024 will be noted as the world's warmest since records began, with extraordinarily high temperatures expected to persist into at least the first few months of 2025.
- Data from January to November had confirmed 2024 as the first in which average global temperatures exceed 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial period.
- The previous hottest year on record was 2023.
- Extreme weather has swept around the world in 2024, with severe drought hitting Italy and South America, fatal floods in Nepal, Sudan, and Europe, heatwaves in Mexico, Mali, and Saudi Arabia that killed thousands, and disastrous hurricanes and cyclones in the U.S. and the Philippines.
- I’d say to plan ahead for more of that in the coming year. And every year after that.
- Moving on.
- A woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by Sean “Diddy” Combs has amended her lawsuit to include allegations that she was also assaulted by Jay-Z at the same party.
- The lawsuit was initially filed against Combs in October, but on Sunday the woman added Shawn Carter, the rapper and businessman known as Jay-Z, as a defendant in the civil lawsuit.
- Carter is the first celebrity to be accused of sexual assault in connection to Combs.
- The woman, who is identified as a Jane Doe, says she was 13 years old at the time she was allegedly assaulted by Combs and Carter at an after party following the Video Music Awards in 2000.
- She alleges Carter raped her first, followed by Combs. The woman says she hit Combs and ran out of the party.
- Advice of the day: STOP RAPING PEOPLE. That goes out to everyone.
- And now, The Weather: “The Afternoon Shift” by Bistro Plate
- From the Sports Desk… we have a new record for rich athletes.
- Superstar outfielder Juan Soto and the New York Mets are in agreement on a 15-year, $765 million contract, the largest deal in professional sports history.
- The contract also includes a $75 million signing bonus. Not bad money for a 26-year-old.
- In more Sports Desk news, despite losing to the Rams 44-42, Bills quarterback Josh Allen made history last night, becoming the first player with three passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns in a single game.
- He threw for 342 yards and rushed for 82 yards. The dude is a juggernaut.
- Today in history… British troops and Loyalists, misinformed about Patriot militia strength, lose the Battle of Great Bridge, ending British rule in Virginia (1775). The Texian Army captures San Antonio following the Siege of Béxar (1835). The first traffic lights are installed, outside the Palace of Westminster in London (1868). In Louisiana, P. B. S. Pinchback becomes the first African American governor of a U.S. state following the impeachment of Henry C. Warmoth (1872). Student protests occur in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, and are subsequently dispersed by government authorities (1935). China, Cuba, Guatemala, and the Philippine Commonwealth declare war on Germany and Japan (1941). Harry Gold is sentenced to 30 years in jail for helping Klaus Fuchs pass information about the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union (1950). General Electric announces that all communist employees will be discharged from the company (1953). The first episode of Coronation Street, the world's longest-running television soap opera, is broadcast in the United Kingdom (1960). Douglas Engelbart gave what became known as "The Mother of All Demos", publicly debuting the computer mouse, hypertext, and the bit-mapped graphical user interface using the oN-Line System (1968). The eradication of the smallpox virus is certified, making smallpox the first of only two diseases that have been driven to extinction (1979). Gwen Jacob is acquitted of committing an indecent act, giving women the right to be topless in Ontario, Canada (1996). Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich is arrested by federal officials for crimes including attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama (2008). The Marriage Amendment Bill receives royal assent and comes into effect, making Australia the 26th country to legalize same-sex marriage (2017).
- December 9 is the birthday of poet John Milton (1608), author Joel Chandler Harris (1845), fitness expert Joseph Pilates (1883), businessman Clarence Birdseye (1886), clown Emmett Kelly (1898), actress Margaret Hamilton (1902), author Dalton Trumbo (1905), admiral/computer scientist Grace Hopper (1906), actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (1909), politician Tip O’Neill (1912), actor Kirk Douglas (1916), actor/comedian Redd Foxx (1922), actor Dick Van Patten (1928), actor/writer Buck Henry (1930), actress Judi Dench (1934), musician Junior Wells (1934), NFL player Deacon Jones (1938), NFL player Dick Butkus (1942), singer-songwriter/guitarist Joan Armatrading (1950), actor Michael Dorn (1952), actor John Malkovich (1953), NBA player World B. Free (1953), singer/actor Donny Osmond (1957), actress Felicity Huffman (1962), politician Kirsten Gillibrand (1966), singer-songwriter/guitarist Jakob Dylan (1969), drummer Tré Cool (1972), politician/activist Stacey Abrams (1973), and singer-songwriter/keyboardist Imogen Heap (1977).
That’s enough stuff for a Monday. I’m going to be writing and designing like a madman this week, hitting my deadlines and making my clients love me, or at least not hate me. That seems like a more reasonable goal. Enjoy your day.
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